Living in BJ with kids

hi there

i noticed a few mums/dads on this forum are living in BJ. i would like to know how it is living there with a young family? how bad is the air quality? how do you get around? taxi? private driver? how are the living conditions? medical care? especially if i might have to have the next baby there... also, the big one, can you get amahs that speak mandarin AND english?? any info would be very much appreciated!

:)

"how bad is the air quality? "


My friend lived there for a couple of years with his wife and daughter. When he traveled to HK he would say it was nice to be in HK because the air was so much cleaner. So it's pretty bad.

Hi SashimiGirl


I have been in BJ since August, after over 10 years in HK. I would be really happy to talk to you, it might be best via phone as I am sure you have loads of questions - send me a PM and I can give you my skype details.


Below are some generalisations... obviously there are exceptions to every comment.


In summary:

I think BJ is much more baby friendly than HK, there are loads of parks, indoor playgrounds, play areas in every shopping mall and everyone loves babies and is always willing to help.

We have IQ Air filters in our house (cheaper in HK, buy there and move them up!), but many days our windows are open as it is nicer outside. Since August, I have seen waaaaay more blue blue skies than I saw in HK. But the bad days are AWFUL.

Flats are larger for half the price of HK.

Taxis are cheap, 'illegal' black cabs are excellent, and it is affordable to get a car/driver if you choose to.

Medical care is very good, having a baby here is like having one at Matilda if you have the insurance for it.

BJ is very very pro breast feeding compared to HK.

Some ayis speak English, but mine just speak Mandarin.


We absolutely do not regret our move, our quality of life is much better here than in HK.


We get locally produced organic milk, yogurt, vegetables and some fruit delivered to our home every week.

BUT the fish sucks compared to HK.... although I have found a group of expats that order imported fish and meat, so we order through them.


Beijing is surrounded by stunningly beautiful countryside - farms, horse back riding, hiking and of course The Great Wall.


The expat community is smaller than HK, more varied (job wise and nationality wise) and super friendly. Going out to eat at a nice restaurant is 300-600 RMB for two people, including drinks - and that is expensive! haha.

One other difference is the 'style' - in HK it is all about your bling and what brand you have and how you look; in BJ it is very relaxed and low key... at first I was always overdressed (and for those of you that know me, I don't dress up a lot anyway so that was quite funny). It is much more down to earth.

Also, the working style is much more balanced - people leave the office to go home!! And if you are breast feeding, you can take time to feed or pump and leave the office at 4:30 to go home to feed, etc... companies have longer maternity leaves and excellent bf policies. Men get home at reasonable times too, family time is in general a much higher priority here. This is so different from HK where the hours are not family friendly at all.


A huge aspect of life is where to live - traffic can be really bad, so most people choose to live with a short commute of the office so they CAN get home in time before bedtime, etc... There are international (super expensive!) schools and local private schools and schools that are in between. We send our son to a local 'private' kindy, which we love. Unless you are on a package which includes international school fees, local/private is a great way to go here for young kids. And since there are so many of these schools, it doesn't become a huge issue in terms of where you decide to live.


They have planted millions of trees for the olympics and moved factories outside of the city far away... They are really serious about improving conditions for the olympics... the big question is, what happens in September????


I have been up and down to BJ/HK for over 10 years, and I have to say, the BJ of 10 years ago, even 5 years ago, is another city compared to the BJ of today - all for the better.


Would love to chat, so just get in touch through pm.

hi crj

thank you so much for your info!!! and yes, i will definately PM you / chat further when i become more certain of a possible move. but your comments are definitely reassuring! we are pretty spoilt here in HK as far as livability goes so i am little nervous about BJ. and especially when kids are involved.

:)

Just be sure to try to get an education allowance included in your package if possible :) That is the only outragous expense here. And excellent health insurance so you get a private room and EVERYTHING covered at Beijing United!